CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced legislation Monday aimed at protecting renters from eviction and predatory landlord practices, calling it the first major update to the city’s housing laws since Mayor Harold Washington’s administration in the mid-’80s.
The Protecting Renters Ordinance, described by Johnson’s administration as a “comprehensive modernization” of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, includes five major components aimed at strengthening tenant protections and improving enforcement.
The ordinance was directly introduced to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate Monday morning, where it will need to be approved before heading to City Council for a final vote.
“We’ve watched as rents continue to skyrocket, while faceless, unaccountable corporations continue to buy up homes and consolidate their influence over the housing market, but we’re done watching,” Johnson said in a news conference Monday. “Chicago housing is a human right. It cannot just be a rallying cry. It must be the reality for every Chicagoan; we must use every tool available to us to keep Chicagoans in their homes and protect the stability that is the lifeblood of our communities.”
The proposal would update the city’s landlord-tenant ordinance by standardizing fees and deposits, strengthening tenant rights and creating a Tenant Bill of Rights. It would also require annual registration of all non-owner-occupied rental units, creating a citywide rental data system that officials say could help guide enforcement and housing policy decisions.
The ordinance would also create a Bureau of Rental Housing Services within the Department of Housing to process rental complaints, investigate violations and coordinate enforcement. It would also require landlords to provide “just cause” for evictions or lease non-renewals.
“Landlords will need to have a just reason before asking a tenant to leave their unit, and if they do not, they will be required to support the tenant with relocation assistance,” Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda said at Monday’s press conference.
“Ten thousand tenants in Chicago every year lose their housing through no fault of their own. This provision is to ensure that tenants have the support necessary when their lives are upended and they will no longer have access to the place they have called home.”
“Just causes” for eviction or non-lease renewal include nonpayment of rent, serious lease violations, a tenant’s refusal to renew under certain conditions, owner occupancy, major repairs, demolition and the sale of the unit.
Landlords would be required to pay a relocation fee of five months’ rent or $5,000, whichever is greater, if a tenant is required to move because of owner occupancy, major repairs, demolition or the sale of the unit. The relocation fee can be as high as $10,000, or 10 months of rent, if there’s proof that a landlord increases the rent significantly more in one unit than in another, according to the ordinance.
Relocation fees are reduced to $3,000 or three months of rent, whichever is greater, for nonprofits and owner-occupied buildings with six units or less.
Landlords can avoid the relocation fees by offering a tenant a similar unit with similar rent in the same building.
The ordinance also bans “junk fees,” including move-in fees and other charges that lack “a documented cost.” Security deposits would be capped at one month’s rent and application fees would be limited to $20.
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The ordinance, announced at the end of May, is aimed at Chicago renters, who make up 54 percent of the city’s households, or 622,000 units, according to the Mayor’s Office. More than 40 percent of those renters are considered cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), chairperson of the Committee on Housing and Real Estate, told Block Club Chicago said he’s heard from constituents that believe rental protections are needed and he believes a majority of council members realize the need for them.
He said there were productive conversations happening about the ordinance and believed the committee could vote to approve the legislation “soon.” He expects a full council vote sometime in the fall.
However, the ordinance is already facing pushback from landlord organizations who claim the legislation would make it more expensive to manage rental properties.
“Over 100 new regulations will raise costs for owners and tenants alike,” Michael Glasser, president of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, said in a statement Monday. “And its just cause eviction provision means housing providers will be forced to renew the leases of people who disturb or harass their neighbors or even engage in criminal activity. None of that makes a single apartment more affordable.”
The Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance represents small and mid-sized independent housing providers across the city.
Johnson acknowledged the pushback his administration will face, calling out “fierce corporate interests” already “mobilizing to defeat” the legislation, but said his administration would “not back down.”
Johnson pushed back on concerns about the ordinance, saying smaller “mom and pop” landlords would be exempt from the rental registry fees. Annual registration costs $20-$60 per unit depending on the size of the building. The registry would include information such as the unit’s address, occupancy status, number of bedrooms and monthly rent.
Owner-occupied buildings with six units or less, nonprofit-owned units and units owned or subsidized by the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund or Chicago Housing Authority would be exempt from registration fees, according to the ordinance.
Johnson said the proposal is meant to address affordability and prevent families from being forced out of their homes without a valid reason, which he said can destabilize communities and contribute to violence.
“This approach is actually responding to the affordability element that I believe everyone across the city is concerned about,” Johnson said.